June: the mark of the end of an academic school year and the beginning of summer for all students; the time when some friends are lost and new ones are found. Though for me, this month became about losing and finding more than just friends.
It all began within the first two weeks of June when I — for the first time ever, believe it or not — lost my phone! How did I lose it? I forgot it on the bus in a moment of haste in an attempt to be on time for a tour I was leading. Sad times were had that Friday (10 Jun), especially over the lost of precious bits of sentimental and data-worthy information. Alas, there was nothing I could do, as the phone ended up in the worst possible neighborhood in Boston when it sounded off. Police — transit and city — could help me not as the Apple-sent location address was not “proof enough” to produce a warrant. Luckily for me, I found a used phone and managed to purchase it fairly quickly — literally, within the next day — just in time for a major event at the end of a short personal physical experiment: dragon boat racing.
The following few days were the dates of our time trials for the annual Boston Dragon Boat Festival as well as the festival itself. We were to do short races on the Saturday before the big event in order to place us into competitive categories so that were were competing against teams who were at and/or around the same level as us. Then, on Sunday, the day of the Festival, the weather decided to not play nice. Not only did we end up paddling through the water as usual, but we were also forced to fight against the wind as we were paddling against our competitors.
On a more personal note, I also “lost” a friend this month — to medical school. One of my friends, whom I was introduced to here in Boston, was graduating and decided to gather a group of us girls to dress up and go out for a day (18 Jun) for a photo shoot up on the famous cobbled streets of the Beacon Hill neighbourhood here in Boston. It was a great day of relaxation and frolicking freely, which I also haven’t done in ages. Shortly afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely brunch together at the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro where they had full-sized Lindor chocolate truffles instead of mints for us after the meal! Madness, delicious madness! Following a mad delicious breakfast, we found a mad delicious store called Fastachi, which specialises in gourmet nuts! It was — nuts! (Okay, I’ll stop with the puns.) But seriously, it was an amazing store filled with various nut mixes I have only barely begun to dream of and nut butters “up the wazoo” — as they say. A week later (25-26 Jun), said friend made the official move to medical school. Fair thee well and best of luck!
“Today” I Learned”
- In Google Docs, when another user deletes something on a shared document from a separate account, you can’t “undo” it with the arrow function.
- Apparently, spoke cards are a well-known practice/tradition among bikers. In Cambridge, some bikers are given red envelope spoke cards for good luck. Strange, but interesting.
- I’ve often seen bags hanging off bike racks that are attached to bikes, sometimes on both sides like saddlebags on a horse; they seem to be fairly popular here in Boston. What I didn’t know is that they’re more formally known as panniers.
- I don’t drink much, so I know know much about alcohol, but recently it’s been brought to my attention that there’s an “easy way” to ask for “the cheapest stuff you have”: by asking for a rail or well drink/beer.
- Cheese curds are strange things to eat, they also have a strange nickname: squeakers.
- Contact lens solution is considered a “healthcare product” during the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checks at airports, so you can bring your regular bottle if necessary.
Additional Photos
Diverse Shades of Green 